Cowgirl, tin, ppl, Publius II – It’s been around a week since that conference call. Do you know if the press has been able to get GG to release names of those touched for five grand new money each? That seems essential information for voters. If GG declines to tell, should we presume the worse? New Jersey folks, drug companies, Wall Street, Adelson at his Casino, public land privatization interests, everything? Any help? Any ideas? Any Montanans called?

What we know, tin, is Gianforte made a phone call back east; shaking lobbyist money trees at five grand a pop. That’s fact, public and raw. If he’s called anyone in Montana for support, who? Also, subscribing to GG emailing shows stuff in the queue saying from Marco Rubio, and from Paul Ryan, but it’s the same old footer and request for money from others, by a multi-millionaire. (Nothing saying it’s from Ron or Rand Paul.) Is there one in the works saying, from JEB!

Anyway, as a GG supporter, do you feel Quist and Sanders will get bigger or smaller crowds than GG and MP? The Quist-Sanders multi-city schedule is online:

On advertising, it seems GG has focused on creepy-voiceover stuff on why Quist “would be bad for Montana,” while Quist appears and speaks in his own ads about why he’d be good, and better than GG. And it seems GG wants to say Quist would want guns registered and Quist says GG wants to impact the places you’d use them to hunt, so it’s a wash. Or do you see it differently? Quist being willing to appear in person, and speak both on tour and in ads, seemingly more than GG?

Hey tin, how much of a patriot are you that you support little Donny so enthusiastically. Maybe we should be checking to see what contact you have had with the Russian spy agencies, maybe you need to sign up as a foreign agent. Kind of interesting how you deflect from the treason that trump, Pence, Flynn and the rest have committed, maybe you are just a Russian troll pretending to be an American. I don’t know what else it could be to be so defensive of these traitors. Maybe you should change your moniker to Boris or better yet Vil’gel’m since you use Bill on another blog.

Strange my family is on the ACA as i am self employed and my wife is a cancer survivor. Our increase was around 18%, we get a small credit but pay most ourselves around $1250.00 per month for $2500 deductible. Still more reasonable than buying in the open market without a group, same coverage that way through Blue Cross/ Blue Shield would be around $1600. And Rice is in the clear, you Russian troll.

Yup, tin. You are making the same argument Quist makes to move from what’s there to single payer healthcare coverage for all as a right. It would cost less and offer more bang for every buck. Take the profiteering middlemen out of the loop, clop Big Pharma upside the head and say, “Behave!” And when you step into that, I agree.

GG, in his lobbyist conference call back east supports just pulling out the rug, saying “It’s a bad rug anyway.” In Montana it’s, “More study is needed . . .” What has GG to offer that the other millionaires already in the House have not delivered for the moblike super-affluent constituency? He’d just be more of the same. The contest seems either Quist or more of the same.

Mike Pence is traveling to Montana. What’s that worth? He publicly lied about Flynn. Now he’s been the one to lie about the new AG office guy and a memo, with follow-up “decisive leadership.” Next thing, Trump then admits he’d have fired Comey anyway. The memo bit was a smokescreen. Tell me both times he did not know what was truth. Does that make Pence Trump Team’s designated lier? Two out of two; and didn’t he try to softpedal Nunes? He and GG can swap stories about fish they’d caught. Or sales tax policy. Or public lands. Job Outsourcing. Noah and retirement. Ryancare and phone calls.

Every time VP Pence says POTUS 45 is “strong and decisive”,
know in truth that they both are weak and divisive,
servants of K Street, K Bros, the Mercer family operatives
of the so called Federal Reserve System yielding
BOOM and BUST cycles,
each cycle cycling wealth upwards
to the USA INVESTMENT CLASS SYSTEM,
overly dependent on foreign Investors.

POTUS and VP POTUS are but symbol and substance of the new Russian Global attempt at World Disorder.

So day after PURGE #3, POTUS invites who but Putin’s friend H. Kissinger, and Agent Sergey Lavrov into the sacred USA Oval Office. No USA TV or reporters. Only RUSSIAN TAS TV.
Guess what, at last minute Sergey Kislyak shows up with AV equipment, in our Oval Office.

Oh, the ‘prestigious’ Law Firm that POTUS (?hired/retained)?). Oh of course, the Law Firm of 2016, in Russia.

Oh, the Bank of Cyprus? Maybe biggest volume bank in Europe.

Oh, the big Picture!
Putin still putting moves on Brexit, the USA, and France.

And Mike Pence completely forgot,
what Isaiah and Jeremiah said,
about being wary,
of long lasting consequences,
from dealing with foreign powers
practising harsh iniquities
sanctioned by alien gods.

“I’m excited to have Bernie Sanders come to Big Sky Country to witness the grassroots support behind our campaign and share the message that we need more elected leaders fighting for working class families, instead of millionaires, corporations and special interests,” said Rob Quist.

Um, Bernie Sanders Just Bought His Third House
Katie Pavlich

Socialist Bernie Sanders is living the good life. Not only is he a hero to the progressive cause, he just purchased his third home for $600,000. That’s right, his third home.

Bernie Sanders now has one thing in common with the millionaires and billionaires and other 1 percenters he so frequently attacked on the campaign trail: he now owns his very own summer home.

Vermont magazine Seven Days reported Tuesday that the 74-year-old senator and his wife, Jane Sanders, have purchased a four-bedroom house on the shore of Lake Champlain for roughly $600,000. Jane told Seven Days that they had recently sold a house in Maine that had belonged to her family since the 1900s, and used the proceeds to purchase the new property, which is located in North Hero (population 803, as of the 2010 census). With this purchase, Sanders now owns at least three houses, the others being in Burlington, VT, and Capitol Hill in D.C.
To give this some context, only 63 percent of American families own a home. The average value of homes owned by these families is $358,200 according to the Census Bureau.

Doesn’t Bernie know he doesn’t really need three homes? Shouldn’t he redistribute at least one of his homes to someone who doesn’t have one at all?

“However, the original Seven Days report included information on how the Sanders’ afforded the summer home. O’Meara Sanders said that she had inherited a vacation home in Maine, but the family was unable to make use of it due to its distance from their primary residence in Vermont, so she sold it and used the proceeds to finance the purchase of a more suitable vacation home in North Hero:

“My family had a lake home in Maine since 1900, but we hadn’t had the time to go there in recent years — especially since my parents passed away,” she said. “We finally let go of it and that enabled us to buy a place in the islands — something I’ve always hoped for.”

Tin, you started this thread so it would be impolite for you to end it. So – reading the thread, lots of trees, but see the forest.

It will be a voter judgment of who would be best to send back east. Who wins that, Quist who says he’d be best against a dominant millionaire multitude, or GG, who’d be able to be closer to those he’s now having to conference call?

As a lawyer who practices property-rights and real-estate law in Kalispell, I was shocked to read a Billings Gazette article that overtly implies wrongdoing by a Flathead County resident who actually did nothing wrong.

It didn’t take me long to realize the reporter, Tom Lutey, doesn’t understand property rights and taxation law; in fact, even the headline was incorrect. Let’s start there.

That headline, “Quist has ties to rental property not listed on state tax rolls,” is patently false. This accusation has every property-rights lawyer in the state laughing. The Quist property is on tax rolls. The Montana Department of Revenue has assessed it as rural residential (not commercial). The current Department of Revenue classification AAB2 accurately identifies the barn as a residential structure in fair condition. Yet the article goes on to imply that because the structure is technically described by the department as a “Standard Barn” the Quists are committing some sort of wrongdoing. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The reporter even uses a quote from Bob Story who incorrectly speculates that this is commercial property. Residential property includes single-family residences as well as multifamily rental dwelling units. The Quist barn dwelling is Class 4 residential property, not commercial property. Why would this reporter include a quote from someone whose guess is blatantly wrong? Unless to purposefully mislead his readers.

But perhaps the most head-scratching piece of the Billings Gazette story is that it implies that if a property owner modifies or improves the structures on their property, they are obligated under the law to notify the Revenue Department. That is incorrect.

If this were true, every Montanan who puts new carpet in their home, or paints the exterior, would need to report the building upgrade to the Department of Revenue so it could reassess the property and possibly tax them more. That’s ridiculous and backwards. Whoever disagrees with the state’s classification or market value may request an informal review, or appeal directly to the county and/or Montana Tax Appeal Boards. The Quists have simply not contested the Department of Revenue’s classification.

The type of invasion of privacy the article suggests is precisely why Flathead County got rid of its building-permit requirements decades ago — you had to pull a permit every time you wanted to put in a new door.

Let’s be clear. There are properties all over the Flathead which are undervalued and overvalued for tax purposes. The Department of Revenue has the right upon notice to enter the lands and make determinations. The people here doing the assessments are good hard-working people. If something is inaccurate, they eventually try to get it right. They will do so here.

No one in this state in the Quists’ position would have done anything differently than the Quists. I’m unclear why a reporter would go to such great lengths to make a mountain out of a molehill. Hell, there isn’t even a molehill in this case. I encourage future reporters or newspapers to contact credible sources and get the facts before diving into issues like property law that they clearly know nothing about.

Kaboom, did you hear that…..exploding heads. Don’t worry these comments will all be deleted when they get back to work at the state capital in Helena in the morning…hehe our tax dollars at work…lol…..children can you spell fascist?

POLLING QUESTION: With ten days to go, is there anything newer than the last report, GG appearing to lead by “single digits,” the gap closing?

COVERAGE QUESTION: With Pence and Sanders visiting Montana, is there any sign the national press will take notice and publish? (So far it’s been GG making one phone call and getting notice and national coverage. You wouldn’t expect him to do it again the same way.)

ENDORSEMENT QUESTION: So far, it has been as expected, each of the two camps having their say. Do endorsements matter. In an earlier thread Lee newspapers making parallel GG endorsements was noted. In 2016, it seems Bullock got a media endorsement sweep, but reporting suggested in well covered popular race newspaper endorsements matter less.

Now tin, first, please do defend the Republicans’ insurer-friendly agenda on healthcare. Tell us again why single payer universal healthcare for all as a right is less fair than UnitedHealth being in the equation. Second, as he was a former CEO, tin, could you guess for us what Gianforte thinks of CEO money lust, whether it can or should be curbed, or at least taxed higher?

When Bernie visits he may talk about it, tin, so get your protest sign ready with a photo of UnitedHealth’s CEO and saying “FREEDOM” and “GREED IS GOOD” to show up to hoot and show scorn.

tin – I think somebody later in the thread trumped your answering about Mr. Portfolio and his likely view of CEO money lust. Thanks anyway. Quist is running against a portfolio, with many hoping the man wins. You for the portfolio?

With that background, and the SuperPAC Norm Coleman chairs dumping outside agitator money into Montana on negative ads against Rob Quist, the Einess guy, for all we know, may have been in on GG’s lobbyist money tree shaking phone call.

FNF help me: If LaFargeHolcim USA gets a big part of THE WALL, would the value of GG’s shares go up, or down? And, what good is THE WALL and spending on it, if any, going to do for Montana? THE WALL is not on the Canadian border.

Mr. Portfolio gets a guest gig; but does not mention his portfolio. It must not be a reason he’s seeking office. Russian sanctions lifted, Russian holdings go up or down? THE WALL gets funded, LaFargeHolcim USA gets a piece of THE WALL, do those shares go up or down? But the portfolio is irrelevant to any of the man’s motives, or else he’d mention it. He’s holding, not trading, as if in anticipation of something, but whatever it is, it’s irrelevant. Irrelevant to Montana values he fell in love with.

It seems Mr. G will donate to anyone as long as they are a member of his party.

“Congressional candidate Greg Gianforte is one of several prominent Montana Republicans who contributed money or support to the 2016 legislative campaign of a Columbia Falls man described by watchdog groups as a white nationalist.

“I was unaware of some of his views and we supported him because we supported all (Republican) candidates in the last election,” Gianforte said Wednesday.”

Tin – Don’t need a security clearance to pass Single Payer. To start taxing the rich. To undo Citizens United. To help end stupendous college debt. To assure families can plan family size and growth patterns. Mueller’s got his job and his clearance, so what are you doing interjecting a nonsequitur? Flynn had a clearance and how do you expect that to finally work out? Gianforte probably could not carry a tune, but that’s like the clearance, not needed when it’s a broom that’s needed, to sweep aside the cruft and a spine that’s needed to stand up to the billionaires rather than conniving with them.

If there’s a point, make it. I’d like Quist to be on the Financial Services Committee. No clearance needed to police Wall Street and the banks. Quist is experienced and would do well there. It would not be schmooze city.

So your one vote does not make any difference? Then why bother ever registering to vote. That is stupid-to think that there were several million that had the same idea and we now have the disaster president.